Fiction Packet Responses

Survivors by Kim Addonizio

The first story in the packet is funny, depressing, and sentimental--all wrapped up in one terse bundle of words. At first I didn't understand why the narrator was referring to their partner as "lover" and then it clicked. It's an interesting look into the life of a group of people that I am not a part of. I'm certainly open to understanding anything, but I believe you can't truly understand something unless it is happening to you. I'm very close with my parents, so to have them disapprove of my partner would be devastating. This story shows the other side of the fence, referring to how these parents see their son's partner. I could not imagine having parents who do not like me simply because of my sexual orientation. It's awful, and luckily this story makes light of it.

Bleeding into their lives, the narrator describes other aspects of their life that the family would disapprove of. It is a subtle and interesting way for the author to include details. The quirky things that she describes are things one could find in any household (save a few). This also helps the reader see what would be left if the narrator's partner dies. There is a saying floating around that emphasizes what we are when we die; it's usually a pile of things. Walk into somebody's house, and you can get a feel for them simply based on their things--or lack thereof. Take away the few quirky things that define them, and the character's home seems like any other home.

Finally, the major theme in the poem is death. The first line describes T-cells, which are a part of the process of developing HIV. The stigma sticks in this story, and whether the characters are gay or not, it leaves the reader to wonder if they are really sick. As I read on, I see that the narrator thinks that his partner's family will blame him; this is where it hits me that they probably are very sick with the same STD. Upon reading this for the first time, I didn't even notice this dark undertone to the story. I thought it was simply a story of a man in love with a man, who dreaded the thought of dying after his lover. Don't we all think about that from time to time? How dreadful it would be to die after your love already has? The second time around I understood, and it didn't change my perspective much. It's still a touching, depressing story.